Octane February 2017

SEVENTY YEARS OF FERRARI. It’s not a big birthday – I guess that will happen in five years’ time, or 30 if you can wait that long – but there are celebrations coming all the same. Ferrari has already launched its 70th anniversary special editions, as you may have seen in Octane 162. Our favourite of those is the blue-with-white-stripe F12 Berlinetta that harks back to the Rob Walker team 250 GT SWB raced by Moss. Choosing that livery would demonstrate fine taste indeed. The company is also expected to announce several major events for 2017, including one in Maranello in early autumn, and another around the same time at Silverstone. Watch this space. In the USA, we’ve heard there will be a very special exhibition in LA, starting in…

CHARLII MAGII ‘Photographing the Atalanta at Bicester Heritage was a pleasure, especially the chance to shoot static images in such a charismatic location. But it wasn’t until we got the car rolling that all that curvy bodywork came to life.’ See Charlie’s beautiful images, and read Mark Dixon’s story of this brand-new old car, on pages 142-150. JOHAN DILLIN ‘I had driven Le Mans for countless laps, downshifting all the way to first for Mulsanne… in my dreams. Driving the same cars as Boutsen, McNish, Paul Newman and Manuel Reuter turned out to be so much better in reality then I had imagined – though in my dream I was faster.’ Read all about the Porsche 962 and 911 GT1 Evo on pages 94-104 . SIMON ALDRIDGI ‘Spending…

‘WE’RE RE-STARTING PRODUCTION AFTER TEN YEARS, SO IT HAS TO BE SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE HERE WILL BE PROUD OF’ ASTON MARTIN is to build 25 new DB4 GT continuation cars at its historic Newport Pagnell site, the first full car production there for ten years. The new cars will be sold as track-only models, with their £1.4-million price including a two-year support package of circuit events and optional training with Aston Martin works drivers, including multiple Le Mans class winner and Historic racer Darren Turner. The circuits include Abu Dhabi’s spectacular Yas Marina. The cars will be assembled in a new three-bay, glass-walled area at the front of the recently renovated service centre at Aston Martin Works on Tickford Street, Newport Pagnell. This is where Aston Martins were produced from…

CLASSIC CARS ARE a global heritage worthy of protection, but more must be done to spread awareness of the old-vehicle movement and nurture a younger generation of enthusiasts. This was the message of international historic vehicle federation FIVA’s ‘Trade, Skills and Youth’ symposium, held in Paris on 16 November under the patronage of UNESCO. Citing a high-school pupil who found and restored the first Chevrolet Camaro, Mark Gessler of the USA’s Historic Vehicle Association urged the movement to be imaginative about making the old-car scene newsworthy – ‘to think a bit more broadly’ and find stories ‘designed to be shared with the wider population’. Over the past three years the HVA had been involved with 15 such projects, and the publicity surrounding the Camaro – including being displayed in an…

National Historic Vehicle Register Act proposed for US Michigan senator Gary Peters has introduced legislation to document details of cars important to US history, the records to be kept in the Library of Congress. Cars included so far include the Buick Y-Job, the first production Chevrolet Camaro and Ronald Reagan’s 1962 Jeep CJ-6. Giugiario’s creations on show in new Turin exhibition Prolific designer Giorgetto Giugiaro’s life and work are being celebrated in Italy’s National Automobile Museum until 26 February. Included are early sketches and caricatures, styling models, concept cars, production cars and the story of ItalDesign. Continuation Costin added to Lister’s list at £295,000 Following the company’s run of Knobblys, Lister Engineering is to make a series of the low-drag car that was the last product of the original Lister…

William Medcalf, specialist in vintage Bentleys and friend of Octane, is planning a series of Saturday gatherings at his Sussex showroom and workshops (see www.vintagebentley.com). And you are invited to the first. It kicks off at 9am with free tea and coffee. The RAC Club’s new Pit Stop Lorry, on its début event, will be on hand with the Club’s chef and a tasty breakfast menu. Tours of the Medcalf garage will feature historic Bentleys along with a hot-rod racer or two, then at noon participants will depart to Brooklands for discounted entry, an exclusive look at the newly uncovered Finishing Straight (last seen in 1940) and lunch in the café. Please email saffron_wright@dennis.co.uk by 4 January to confirm attendance.…